SC To Hear CCI Plea Seeking Transfer Of Amazon, Flipkart Cases: Report

SUMMARY

In a recent plea, the competition watchdog asked the SC to consolidate multiple proceedings against the ecommerce giants across six high courts

The petitions are pending across the high courts of Delhi, Punjab and Haryana, Karnataka and Allahabad, among others

The case is likely to come up for hearing on Friday, as reported

After the Competition Commission of India (CCI) had urged the Supreme Court to transfer 24 writ petitions related to alleged anti-competitive practices by Amazon and Flipkart to a single High Court or itself, a bench led by chief justice Sanjiv Khanna has reportedly agreed to list the matter early.

In a recent plea, the competition watchdog asked the SC to consolidate multiple proceedings against the ecommerce giants across six high courts.

The petitions are pending across the high courts of Delhi, Punjab and Haryana, Karnataka and Allahabad, among others.

CCI made the appeal to transfer all 24 petitions preferably to Delhi High Court to expedite the adjudication and reduce any conflicting rulings on the issue, as per an ET report.

The case is likely to come up for hearing on Friday.

This comes after CCI in September found ecommerce giants Amazon and Flipkart guilty of violating competition laws. Both the tech giants flouted antitrust guidelines by giving preference to select sellers on their platforms, CCI found.

“Each of the anti-competitive practices alleged… were investigated and found to be true… Ordinary sellers remained as mere database entries,” read identical conclusions in both the reports.

In CCI’s report on Amazon, it alleged that preferred sellers on the ecommerce platform received “advantage in the (online) listing”, adding that a customer’s “attention” was drawn towards the listing when they search for any product.

With regards to Flipkart, it said that preferred sellers were provided various services such as marketing and delivery at a “miniscule cost”.

In 2020, CCI ordered a probe against Amazon and Flipkart after receiving complaints from trade body Delhi Vyapar Mahasangh. The watchdog probed allegations that both the ecommerce platforms promoted certain sellers with which the two companies had business arrangements.

The companies legally challenged the probe multiple times, but the SC rejected their pleas to put the investigations on hold in 2021. Subsequently in 2022, the CCI conducted raids at the offices of the sellers of Amazon India and Flipkart. At the time, the CCI investigators reportedly collected emails, documents and data from computers at these premises.